1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technique for ejecting a liquid from an ejecting nozzle.
2. Related Art
A liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid such as ink from an ejecting head provided with a minute ejecting nozzle is known. In this liquid ejecting apparatus, the liquid to be ejected (for example, ink) is contained in a dedicated container (for example, an ink cartridge), and the liquid in the container is supplied to the ejecting head through a channel to be ejected.
In addition, the liquid to be ejected may contain an ingredient having a tendency to settle. For example, if the liquid to be ejected is ink, a pigment may be used for the purposes of enhancing so-called weather resistance, improving a color forming property, and the like. Since a pigment is not dissolved but suspended in a solvent of ink (such as water and alcohol), it gradually settles in the solvent when the ink is left unused for a long period. If the liquid ejecting apparatus is left unused with an ingredient having a tendency to settle left in the ejecting head and the channel, clogging may occur inside the ejecting head and the like as the pigment settles. Accordingly, a problem such as liquid ejection failure may arise.
To solve the above problem, JP-A-2007-268997 proposes a technique in which a liquid that may cause clogging is discharged from an ejecting head and a channel by separately loading another container, which is replaceable as a dedicated container such as an ink cartridge is, and ejecting a cleaning liquid contained in the other container from an ejecting nozzle.
However, there still is a problem in that the occurrence of clogging in the ejecting head and the channel cannot completely be prevented even when the proposed technique is applied. In other words, to avoid clogging using the proposed technique, a sufficient amount of the cleaning liquid must be ejected from the ejecting nozzle. However, there may be a case where the remaining amount of the cleaning liquid in the container containing the cleaning liquid is not sufficient to complete the task. It is needless to say that, even in such a case, the occurrence of clogging can be avoided if a sufficient amount of the cleaning liquid is prepared by replacing the container for containing the cleaning liquid, or by some other action. However, it is not ensured that a sufficient amount of the cleaning liquid is always prepared by constantly replacing the container or by some other action whenever the amount of the cleaning liquid becomes insufficient. There still is a problem in that the occurrence of clogging in the ejecting head and the channel cannot completely be prevented even if the proposed technique is applied.